Horsetooth RockA hike to iconic Horsetooth Rock is a refreshing way to get your Thanksgiving guests out of the house. / Coloradoan library

Start your Thanksgiving by running or walking the Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run in downtown Fort Collins. About 3,000 runners and walkers do every year. / Fort Collins Coloradoan

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Every family has their own Thanksgiving traditions. Most center on the three F’s: Family, food, football.

My family Thanksgivings throughout the years have never really been too different from family, food and football, except for one notable addition: The Turkey Trot.

Every year in Montrose, I’d join my brother, mom, aunt and uncle, cousins, all the family dogs, my grandma and sometimes my grandpa at the parking lot of Oak Grove Elementary School for the Turkey Trot.

My younger brother, my aunt and I always ran the four-mile race. Everyone else would opt to walk the dogs and children during the two-mile race. One year, my older brother, his wife and daughter visited from Kansas City, Mo., and walked little Reid in her stroller.

My grandpa walked one year to celebrate his successful knee surgery. My cousin Brandon, who has cerebral palsy, rides his wheelchair every year for the two-mile race, laughing and cheering the entire way. His yellow lab Dakota runs alongside him as a loyal dog does.

The Turkey Trot is a prediction race, where you predict your time and the “winners” were those runners who had times closest to their predictions. People won home-baked pies, turkeys and other goodies. I think I won a water bottle once.

The dogs would greet me at the finish line. I’d give Brandon a high-five. Grandma would rush back home to finish peeling the potatoes and onions. My brother and I would joke with our Aunt Lori about running the race twice as quickly as she did.

We’d talk about the race the rest of the day as we gorged on turkey, grandma’s mashed potatoes and creamed onions and watch football. Nothing, however, in my experience brought me closer to my family on Thanksgiving than those mornings at the Turkey Trot. Those races were family builders like no other.

This Thanksgiving is my first in Montrose in four years. I’m excited to return to the starting line at Oak Grove Elementary, run with my brother, watch Brandon smile and see Dakota run.

Thanksgiving is nearly here and while the three F’s are certainly the core of the day’s festivities, why not add a little wrinkle to your tradition this year?

(Page 2 of 3)

Here are some suggestions for Fort Collins-area trips and outdoor activities to make the Thanksgiving holiday a memorable one with family this year:

RBC Wealth Management Thanksgiving Day Run

• Why go: Run through Old Town and set the tone of the day early in the city’s most popular running race with more than 3,000 participants. You’ll see serious runners gunning for that $600 first-place prize, joggers with strollers, first-time racers and maybe even people dressed in turkey costumes. Make it a family affair and bring the kids for the Gobble Gobble Kids’ Run. This year’s race raises money for the Food Bank for Larimer County, so get your run on and help feed some people.

• When: 8:45 a.m. Thursday for Gobble Gobble Kids’ Run and 9 a.m. for main race

Catch the Glow Holiday Celebration and Parade

• Why go: Get into the Christmas spirit early and check out the parade in downtown Estes Park where floats twinkle with thousands of sparkling lights, marching bands show off their stuff and Santa shows up with his helpers. Line the streets of Elkhorn Avenue in downtown Estes Park to take in the action and say goodbye to Thanksgiving.

• When: Activities begin at noon, parade is at 5:30 p.m. Friday

• Where: Estes Park

• Cost: Free

• Information: www.estesnet.

com

CSU vs. New Mexico football game

• Why go: CSU has had three straight 3-9 seasons, and a win Saturday would give the Rams their best record since going 7-6 with a win in the New Mexico Bowl in 2008. The football may not be pretty, but relish it, you won’t see CSU play another football game until fall 2013. The tailgating is always fun. Not sold? The Colorado Eagles host the, yes, Florida Everblades at 7:05 p.m. at the Budweiser Events Center

Horsetooth Rock

• Why go: If you have family visiting from, say, Nebraska or Florida, Horsetooth Rock probably looks like a towering, challenging mountain. Take them to climb the 7,260-foot peak, so they can show off to their friends back home that they conquered a Fort Collins landmark. The easy to moderate trail with 1,500 feet of elevation gain is a must-hike, and Thanksgiving Day is the perfect time to do it. Either you hike in the morning so you can justify all the food you’re going to devour later, or you hike after eating said turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, to burn off those pesky calories. Add in the beautiful panoramic view of the mountains and plains, this is a win-win.

• Where: Take Larimer County Road 38E west of Fort Collins for 6.5 miles to Horsetooth Mountain Park Open Space.